Oh mama, Supernatural is back! The first episode of 2011 felt
like a season premiere, complete with a "Road So Far" montage set to
Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle." The episode got Sam back and set up
the new big bad villain of the year, someone we've been waiting a long
time to see: the Mother of All.

Welcome Back, Sammy

After being resouled by Death, Sam is back to his old self, literally. He doesn't remember anything about coming back and doing serious damage without a soul, something Dean is all-too-happy to let him forget. Bobby, however, is smart enough to know that lying to Sam about this is going to bite them all in the behinds. The most surprising twist is that Bobby's wrong.

Supernatural does the right thing by not dragging this storyline out. Cas pops in for a reunion with Sam and tells him all about how he was a soulless one-man army. Cas also tries to comfort Sam with a hug, and seeing Cas try to show emotion is wonderfully hilarious.

By the end, Dean reveals that he only lied to Sam because he's afraid that by digging into what happened, Sam might accidentally scratch the wall Death put up in his mind, protecting him from the painful scars on his soul. In other words, Dean was trying to protect his little brother. The Winchester boys are definitely back to their old selves.

Dungeons and Dragons

The story of the week features virgins being kidnapped by dragons! Sure, that sounds silly, but the dragons are actually just dudes whose hands turn to fire and who can turn into dragons. Sadly, the brothers only fight the guys and not the dragons, because watching Dean slay an actual dragon might be awesome to actually put on television.

This nerdy adventure also leads Dean to medieval expert Dr. Viziak, an old friend of Bobby's. And by friend, I mean someone who wants to kick him in the family jewels. There's a story there, and with Dr. Viziak's cougar-like attitude, I truly hope this is just the first of many appearances she'll have.

She informs Dean that the only way to kill a dragon is with a sword forged from dragon blood, and she just so happens to have on in her basement. However, the sword is stuck in stone, meaning Dean will have to prove he's a champion to get it out.

What follows is Jensen Ackles at his funniest as Dean struggles and fails to pull the sword out, ultimately turning to plastic explosives which dislodge the sword, but also break it in half. Some people shouldn't play with nice things.

Half-sword in hand, Sam and Dean do some research, find the dragon lair full of virgins and free them, killing one of the dragon men.

How I Met the Mother

In the end, we learn that the dragons were collecting virgins to help them open a door to Purgatory. But the dragons didn't want to go there, like Crowley did, they want to let something out: the Mother of All.

I'm sure you remember the Alpha Vampire's cryptic comment about how even he has a mother. Well, the Mother of All is just that, the mother of all the Alphas and the mother of all the monsters. She's like an Evil Eve, and she's got plans.

The Winchesters have faced Azazel, Lilith, Ruby, Lucifer and Crowley, but now they have to deal with something completely different. What kind of being is the Mother of All? If she can create vampires, wendigos, skinwalkers, rugarus and all the other creatures, then as far as I'm concerned, the Mother of All is essentially God's evil twin sister.

Supernatural is definitely back and the season has officially begun with the introduction of this new villain. What do you think about the Mother of All?